Also known as: landowners · landholder · landholders · landman · proprietor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who holds legal title to real property. Ownership confers rights to use, develop, and exclude others subject to zoning, permitting, and constitutional limits on government action.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Latoya Lane secured a valid building permit under existing zoning and spent substantial sums installing utilities and framing on her parcel. When the city later rezoned the area and revoked the permit, she continued limited work while seeking an injunction. A court recognized her vested right because the good-faith expenditures created inequitable expectations that the rezoning could not defeat.
Lars Lindstrom purchased coastal acreage intending residential development. A new state regulation barred all construction and left the parcel with no economically beneficial use. He sued for just compensation, arguing the rule effected a per se taking unless background nuisance principles already prohibited the intended use.
Leonard Lowe petitioned the city council to rezone his single parcel from residential to commercial use. Surrounding parcels remained residential and the change conflicted with the comprehensive plan. Neighbors sued, claiming the rezoning constituted invalid spot zoning that primarily benefited one landowner rather than the community.
Levi Lowe sought a permit to rebuild his beachfront home. The commission conditioned approval on granting a public access easement across the property. He challenged the condition because the easement lacked an essential nexus to any impact caused by the proposed construction.
Lorenzo Lugo owned a historic terminal building subject to landmark restrictions that prevented redevelopment. The city denied a permit for a large office tower above the structure. He claimed a taking after weighing the economic impact, interference with investment-backed expectations, and the character of the government action under the multi-factor test.
Lillian Locke lived with her grandson and his children in a single-family home under a zoning ordinance that limited occupancy to nuclear families. The city cited her for violating the code. She prevailed because the restriction arbitrarily interfered with her choice of household composition without advancing legitimate zoning objectives.
A landowner acquires a vested right when she obtains a valid permit in good faith and makes substantial expenditures or changes position in reliance on existing zoning. Depriving the right would then be inequitable. Some jurisdictions require substantial construction while others apply a balancing test.
A landowner must demonstrate that the regulation deprives the parcel of all economically beneficial or productive use. The claim fails if the prohibited use was already barred by background nuisance or property principles at the time of acquisition.
…subjective, because it is basically a matter of taste,” Reply Brief for Appellants 22, thus unavoidably singling out individual landowners for disparate and unfair treatment. The argument has a particularly hollow ring in this case. For appellants not only did not seek judicial review of either the designation or of the…
…16 Barb. (N.Y.) 350. And, following this ruling, the Supreme Court of California held that an affidavit made by a "publisher and proprietor" was sufficient. Sharp v. Daugney , 33 Cal. 512. The term "editor," as used when the statute of New York was passed, from which the Oregon law is borrowed, usually included not only the…
…flourishes and when the merchant can freely export the produce of the country" to nations that will pay the highest price. A Landholder No. 1, Connecticut Courant, Nov. 5, 1787, in 3 Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution 399 (M. Jensen ed. 1978) (hereinafter Documentary History). See also The…
…convenience and general welfare of the inhabitants of the part of the city affected" would not be promoted by prohibiting the landowner
…struck down the Commission's reasonable effort to respond to intensified development along the California coast, on behalf of landowners
Spot zoning singles out one parcel or small area for special treatment inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and surrounding uses. A valid rezoning must serve a legitimate public purpose and bear a substantial relation to health, safety, or general welfare.
A permit condition requiring dedication must have an essential nexus to the impact of the proposed development. Without that connection the exaction constitutes an unconstitutional taking.
Courts weigh the economic impact of the regulation, the extent of interference with distinct investment-backed expectations, and the character of the government action. No single factor is dispositive.
A zoning ordinance may not arbitrarily limit occupancy to nuclear families when the restriction lacks a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Such limits violate due process when they interfere with extended family living arrangements.